The Ogaden Community Association of Sweden strongly condemns the recent illegal abduction and arrest of two Swedish journalists in Ogaden

Friday, 08 July 2011 04:40
Ogaden Online

We are very saddened by the news of the abduction and shooting in the Ethiopian occupied Ogaden region of the two Swedish journalists who were attempting to report from the Ogaden the human rights violations which the Ethiopian regime is conducting there. The wounded journalist are still kept in prison and not receiving proper medical attention

Given our knowledge of the conduct of the Ethiopian regime, the journalists face torture and maltreatment at the hands of their captors. The Ogaden community in Sweden held a protest rally in solidarity with the journalist in front of the Swedish parliament on the 6th of the July 6, 2011. We demand that the journalist be granted immediate access to the Swedish diplomatic mission in Ethiopia and that they be treated in accordance with international law and not be subjected to torture as is the standard procedure in Ethiopia.

Furthermore, the Ogaden is in dire situation and in need of urgent intervention from the International community. We call on the international community to condemn the actions of the Ethiopian regime and force it to allow media, human rights organizations, and NGO’s access to the Ogaden.

We do not understand why the Ethiopian regime is allowed to commit genocide in Ogaden with impunity and the world community is doing nothing about it.

The Ogaden communities through the world having been voicing their indignation at the slow motion genocide in Ogaden, but the situation is not treated with the utmost urgency it deserves while Sudan’s Darfur region grabs the world attention. Equally disturbing is the message from the Swedish Development Aid Minister, Gunilla Carlsson, that Sweden will not use as a leverage the roughly 280 million kronor ($44 million) they give to the Ethiopian regime because Sweden has a "long history and strong commitment with the Ethiopian people," as Development Minister Gunilla Carlsson said in an interview with TT news agency which was published in the online newspaper Thelocal.se. We would like to remind the minister that this aid is not given to the Ethiopian people but to the regime and its armed forces which in turn is used to carry out the genocide in Ogaden. Regards,